This year I traveled from Singapore to Montreal and many places in between. As I do each year I reviewed the images which I took during the course of the year and narrowed it down to 12 of my favorite images from over 5000 images taken during 2018. I also tried to highlight various areas which I traveled which you will find below.

The Dancers in Winter Snow
I have photographed The Dancers a few times in different conditions. When approaching the subject I am now looking for new angles even if it is moving the location of the dancers within a few inches to the Colorado Convention Center. As the snow was falling I was moving so slightly to place the hands of them in a location on the building.

Wildflowers in San Diego
During a trip in March to San Diego I was able to experience the fields of wildflowers near Carlsbad. Under soft light I walked through the fields and captured the spring growth.

Cherry Blossoms in the Tidal Basin
I was in Washington DC during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. I was a there a little past the peak but there was still plenty to capture along the Tidal Basin as well as around the city. It was a little windy one of the days I was there and noticed the movement of the water in the basin. With the cherry blossoms starting to fall off from the wind as well there were areas in which the blossoms were gathering. I pointed my camera towards these areas and let the motion from the water make the image.

Montreal Planetarium
Walking around Olympic Stadium in Montreal I noticed the light on the metal buildings as they reflected the midday light. Working from different angles I was able to position the buildings overlapping with a nice blue sky to add to this minimal photograph of the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium.

Leaf in Singapore
Walking through the Singapore Botanical Gardens I weaved my way around on the various paths on a casual morning. I passed by a small area of plants which just had leaf after leaf stacked in the growth which caught my eye. I decided to look down on the leafs to capture the lines and patterns which they created.

Evening at Gardens by the Bay
The light show at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore is a great experience. Earlier in my visit I had ventured to the path above but for the light show found a nice perspective and captured the show in addition to sitting back and taking in the experience as well.

Big Buddha in Hong Kong
When in Hong Kong I made a trip out to the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. Climbing the 268 steps to get to the statue as it looks out above you is an amazing experience. It was an overcast day but this allowed for the low clouds to set the scene as I looked towards Po Lin Monastery.

Tram in Hong Kong
On Hong Kong Island there is a whole transit system of trams. On one day I became familiar with the system due to a lost mobile phone. As I sat in the front of the tram on the upper level I was able to capture the motion of the tram as it went through central Hong Kong around sunset. Using a longer shutter speed the movement of the tram allowed the blur to occur.

Oculus in New York City
Walking around the Ground Zero area in the Financial District of New York the lines of the Oculus caught my attention. The Oculus is the new transportation hub in that area and is a great looking building. With my camera I zoomed into areas of the structure to capture the abstract shapes the lines created within the building.

Building Reflections in New York
There has been a great amount of growth and building in Hudson Yards at New York. As I walked the Highline Canal I noticed the lines of these two buildings. The glass reflecting the background building while post showing their vertical lines caught my eye in this image.

Fall Leaf in the Water
While in Montreal during the fall there was plenty of fall foliage in full display. The various colors on the trees and ground were quite impressive. As I explored the city I came across a pond with leaves which had fallen into the water. With the moving water I used a slow shutter speed to capture a little of the movement of the leaf against the rocks on the bottom.

Sunrise in Denver
There is something about a November sunrise in Denver. I have photographed during this month many times and always find great color in the sky. This year was no different as I silhouetted the downtown skyline to capture the color of the sky and the lines of downtown. These lines continue to change as Denver the growth of the city remains.

Thank you for looking at the images I selected for 2018, and I look forward to capturing more images from Denver and beyond in 2019.

Taking the time to write a thank you note is something which is appreciated by the person who received the card. If it is for business, who knows one of those business cards you include in a handwritten thank you note can make it to some they know resulting in a new customer for you this year. I am sure that alone will be worth the couple of minutes which is took to say thanks.

Over the past few weeks I have been working on adding images to the website. So far this has included over 100 images with additional images being added over the next few days. If there is an image which you see on social media (Facebook or Instagram) but do not see on the website, please let me know. I have worked with a couple of customers already and am more than happy to work with you.

Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away and the holiday shopping season will soon been upon us if it is not here all ready. While I do carry some pieces in stock, most items are created upon ordering which may require a couple of weeks to complete. While this process may take a little longer, it allows you to select the size and type of finish for your print to make sure it will be a perfect addition to your wall.

To guarantee delivery by Christmas, your order must be received and paid for by the following dates:

Photobox Mounting – Saturday December 1, 2018

Framed Prints – Saturday December 1, 2018

Matted Prints – Saturday December 8, 2018

Orders placed after the deadline will be processed as quickly as possible and may still may be available by the holidays.

With the first snowfall coming soon in the Denver area it is getting close to the end of the year and the holidays. Holiday Cards are a great way to help send the message of joy during the season whether to friends and family or your business contacts.

Eight options are offered for the cards which include a full image on the front, and either “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” inside the card. The 5″x7″ cards are sold in packs of 12, with 13 white envelopes.

Through October 7th the holiday cards are on sale for $12.99. With savings of over 20%, this is a great time to stock up!

After reviewing my schedule I have decided that once again this summer I will be taking a break from art festivals in the Denver as I focus on a couple of projects. Over the past years I have enjoyed showing my work at the festivals and more so discussing the work with the thousands of people who have stopped by during the various art festivals. I will still be showing new work on this blog, my website as well as on my Facebook Fan Page.

Thank you for your continued support and see you at the art festivals in 2019!

Some additional information on OM can be found at the Ocular Melanoma Foundation. From the Introduction page it provides an overview of OM and more detailed information about the disease. I spent many hours on these pages when I was first diagnosed and it helped.

The main company which does genetic testing during the biopsy of the cancer cells is Castle Biosciences. They have developed a test working with one of the top doctors who treats OM. Information on this testing as well as more details on OM can be found on MyUvealMelanoma.com.

In December 2016 I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in my left eye, Ocular Melanoma. After much thinking on the matter in the recent months I decided I wanted to share this to help raise awareness for the disease.

Ocular Melanoma (OM) is diagnosed in roughly 2,500 individuals in the United States each year. To put this in perspective at this rate it would take 40 years to fill the Rose Bowl in Pasadena or just over 7 years to fill the Pepsi Center here in Denver. With the odds of contracting this type of cancer being 1 in 129,000 in the United States (roughly 23 new cases each year in the Denver metro area), you can see why most likely you are hearing about this for the first time.

Unfortunately, we all know more people than we should who have battled cancer over the years. For me the list of names includes Venu, Christina, Ben, Julie, Heide, Michelle, Don, Helena and many others who amongst them have battled brain tumors, breast cancer, colon cancer just to name a few. I know we all agree here with two words, cancer sucks. When we hear stories of cancer we can somewhat relate as we know of someone else who has battled those types of cancers, granted it will never be the same as being the one who is going through the treatments or watching a loved one through their courageous fight. With a rare disease like OM this is not the case, we don’t know others who have battled this type of cancer leaving a lot of questions unaswered.

One of the first things you probably thought or wanted to ask about this type of cancer once you heard the word melanoma was, is this related to skin melanoma. The two are not related as there is no link between UV exposure and OM, and like most other cancers the exact cause is still unknown. OM is the most common type of eye cancer and in about half of all cases the cancer will spread to other parts of the body through metastasis. This happens through the blood stream thus the primary location for metastasis to occur first is the liver but it has also been known to spread to other internal organs.

Just about a year ago I underwent treatment for OM with a radiation plaque sewn to the back of my eye which sat in place for a week. This was then removed and I was limited to the activities I could do for the next couple of weeks as the eye recovered and the muscle which was detached and reattached completed the healing process. All of this was through outpatient surgery and living in Denver I am quite fortunate to have a doctor not far from me who specializes in this type of procedure.

This past October, I went to a conference put on by the Ocular Melanoma Foundation with other OM patients and caregivers. Over the weekend, I met other patients recently diagnosed and those who have lived with OM for many years. One of the reminders I received during this conference is the statistics are not always encouraging for an OM patient, but I am not a statistic I am a person. I can also say we are all in this for the long haul and will continue to work in any way possible to help find a cure for this disease.

Another take away from the conference brought me back to a couple of years ago while getting dinner at an overnight layover in Seattle when I met Sean Swarner. Sean was diagnosed with cancer as a teenager and was given just a couple of weeks to live. He not only battled Hodgkin’s disease but also beat Askin’s sarcoma not too many years later, two completely unrelated cancers. Even with one fully functioning lung he has gone on to summit Mount Everest, as well as the tallest peaks on each continent also known as the “Seven Summit’s”. While he was not talking about these accomplishments with a handful of us at the bar having dinner, it was more so the importance of living in the present. He can speak first-hand about not knowing what tomorrow will bring for us in this world.

Thinking about what I heard from this chance encounter, I have been doing what I enjoy and have also been quite busy traveling this past year. From visiting my fiftieth state, going to Ireland, experiencing a person to person cultural exchange in Cuba, seeing the total solar eclipse, traveling on Alaska Marine Highways from Juneau to Bellingham and many more small adventures in between it is time not to sit back but continue to live. These adventures are and will continue to be documented on whereisneil.com with the goal of inspiring others to discover what is around them locally as well as places across the world.

Just after radiation therapy I was talking to a good friend Jason, when I mentioned the biopsy results and stated how the numbers were for me of having metastasis in the next five years. Without even a split second he stated those numbers to me in reverse giving the much better percentage of it not spreading. It was better to hear it in this manner and also changed how I think about the positive in my battle with OM. Jason unfortunately knows all too well about cancer as his wife Christina was diagnosed with a brain tumor not too long after they started dating. Jason was always alongside Christina in her fight taking care of the administration side of things but more so being that rock she so needed. Unfortunately, Christina lost her battle after such a courageous fight for so many years.

The support for raising money for the brain tumor foundation didn’t end there for Jason, myself and many of our friends as we participated in numerous fundraising events in memory of Christina and our friend Venu who also had a similar fight at the same time as Christina. Jason has also taken a passion of his and started to use this as a method to raise money for cancer research and other non-profits. Leverage Wines is a small boutique winemaker in the Paso Robles area which works with a local winemaker to make the best wines possible and also support these organizations.

Following along with Jason’s idea with Leverage Wines, I have also decided to do something similar with my photography. Moving forward a portion from each purchase will be donated directly to the Ocular Melanoma Foundation. In doing so this will continue to help fund the research which is necessary to find a cure, the education so we can detect OM early and also help provide resources to help fund travel for patients to get to the specialists for treatment.

I know this is a lengthy post so if there is one thing which I can ask you to do is schedule regular appointments with your eye doctor. Having your eyes checked annually, which includes dilation of the eyes, will help with early detection of OM.